M1 motorway | |
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Route information | |
Part of | |
Length: | 87 km (54 mi) |
Existed: | 1983 – present |
History: | Completed 1983–2005 Stages: Santry Bypass: 1983 Airport Motorway: 1985 Dunleer Bypass: 1993 Balbriggan Bypass: 1998 Dunleer to Dundalk: 2001 Drogheda Bypass: 2003 Airport to Balbriggan: 2003 Dundalk Bypass: 2005 |
Major junctions | |
From: |
Dublin (Turnapin) |
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To: | Ballymascanlon |
Location | |
Primary destinations: |
Dublin Airport, Swords, Balbriggan, Drogheda, Dundalk |
Road network | |
The M1 motorway (Irish: Mótarbhealach M1) is a motorway in Ireland. It forms the large majority of the N1 national primary road connecting Dublin towards Belfast along the east of the island of Ireland. The route heads north via Swords, Drogheda and Dundalk to the Northern Irish border just south of Newry in County Armagh, where it joins the A1 road and further on, the M1 motorway in Northern Ireland. It also forms a significant part of the road connection between Dublin and the Northern Irish cities of Newry, and Lisburn. The route is part of European route E01.
Almost the entire length of the N1 has been upgraded to motorway standard and is designated the M1 motorway. It runs from the Junction 3 of the M50 ring road in Dublin, past Swords, Balbriggan Drogheda and Dundalk before ending at Ballymascanlon north of Dundalk, bypassing the intermediate towns through which the original route travelled. The original N1 route now forms the R132. At Ballymascanlon, it becomes the N1 dual carriageway and continues to the Northern Irish border. The motorway section of the N1 uses the M1 designation. Small yellow route markers along the motorway route also read N1.